Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to consider the outcomes of its consultation into the Gardens Trust's statutory consultee role before deciding whether it should be removed as a statutory consultee.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to reviewing the existing statutory consultee arrangements to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth.
As per the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510), we intend to consult on removing a limited number of statutory consultees, including the Gardens Trust.
We also intend to review the range and type of planning applications on which statutory consultees are required to be consulted and consider whether some types of application could be removed, or addressed by alternative means of engagement and provision of expert advice.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to commence the consultation into the proposal to remove the Garden Trusts as a statutory consultee in the planning system.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to reviewing the existing statutory consultee arrangements to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth.
As per the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510), we intend to consult on removing a limited number of statutory consultees, including the Gardens Trust.
We also intend to review the range and type of planning applications on which statutory consultees are required to be consulted and consider whether some types of application could be removed, or addressed by alternative means of engagement and provision of expert advice.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact that the removal of the Gardens Trust as a statutory consultee in the planning system on (a) local planning authorities, (b) UK tourism, (c) climate change and (d) the sustainability of historic parks and gardens.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to reviewing the existing statutory consultee arrangements to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth.
As per the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510), we intend to consult on removing a limited number of statutory consultees, including the Gardens Trust.
We also intend to review the range and type of planning applications on which statutory consultees are required to be consulted and consider whether some types of application could be removed, or addressed by alternative means of engagement and provision of expert advice.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that future planning decisions that impact historic parks and gardens will be informed by expert advice.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is committed to reviewing the existing statutory consultee arrangements to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth.
As per the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510), we intend to consult on removing a limited number of statutory consultees, including the Gardens Trust.
We also intend to review the range and type of planning applications on which statutory consultees are required to be consulted and consider whether some types of application could be removed, or addressed by alternative means of engagement and provision of expert advice.
Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the merits of continuing to fund (a) Strategic Environment Assessments, (b) Habitat Regulations Assessment screening, (c) the costs of Independent Examination and (d) Neighbourhood Plan Referendums.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following the Spending Review, my Department announced that it is unable to commission new neighbourhood planning support services for 2025 onwards.
We will ensure that local planning authorities continue to be appropriately funded for their neighbourhood planning function, including funding for neighbourhood planning examinations and conducting referenda.
Local planning authorities can continue to provide other forms of support to neighbourhood planning groups, including in relation to carrying out strategic environment assessments and habitats regulation assessments where they are needed.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of applying permitted development rights to small reservoirs.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under existing nationally set permitted development rights, farmers are able to create smaller, on-farm reservoirs. Guidance on the rights in question is available on gov.uk here.
The government continues to keep permitted development rights under review.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of using rural exception sites for delivering affordable housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework expects local planning authorities to support opportunities to bring forward rural exception sites to provide affordable housing to meet identified local needs.
In the government response to the revised NPPF published on 12 December 2024, we committed to give further consideration to how we can better support rural affordable housing, including through rural exception sites, as part of our work to produce a set of national policies for decision making in 2025.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to make changes to the (a) Housing Revenue Account model and (b) Right to Buy scheme.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises that changes in rent policy, inflationary pressures, and increased costs associated with investing in existing stock since 2012 have led to increasing strain on Housing Revenue Accounts. The principle of self-financing remains the right one but we are committed to working with councils to overcome the pressures on their Housing Revenue Accounts and to supporting them to make a greater contribution to social and affordable housing supply.
This government is also committed to the Right to Buy. We want to ensure that council tenants who have lived in, and paid rent on, their social homes for many years can retain the opportunity to own their home. However, reform of Right to Buy is essential to better protect much-needed social housing stock, boost council capacity and build more social homes than we lose, supporting the government’s commitment to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.
We have returned the maximum cash discounts to between £16,000 and £38,000 and we are allowing councils to keep 100% of the receipts from sales so that they are better able to build and buy new homes. We consulted last autumn on further reforms to the Right to Buy, including increased protections for new builds and changes to eligibility requirements. The consultation is now closed, and the government will set out next steps shortly.
We will also set out more detail of our future investment in social and affordable housing at the Spending Review next week.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the five-point plan set out in the report entitled Securing the Future of Council Housing, published in September 2024.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 27397 on 7 February 2025.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she expects Locality to open the window for grant applications for funding to support communities with developing neighbourhood plans in 2025-26.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government will make an announcement in respect of support for neighbourhood planning in due course.